One of the voices of Townsville’s Blak community radio station 4K1G, Eli Blackman, is tossing up which of the two queer events to head to this weekend.
"Mansfield will be where more of the mob are, but The Ville is more my vibe," he says.
While hundreds of thousands across the country will set out over the weekend to celebrate Mardi Gras, an enormous public spectacle, Eli’s choice between two small parties in the capital of Far North Queensland offers a stark comparison.
The Gubbi Gubbi, Gooreng Gooreng, South Sea and Bindal man recently made the move up from his home town on the Sunshine Coast four years ago.
From Eli’s perspective, there is an obvious difference: queerness isn't something that is necessarily part of the city's identity.
"It’s more like an under the rug type situation: it’s really hidden," he said.
"Sunny coast was very fast paced ... there was definitely more promotion for the rainbow community and queer events. It’s a big difference from up here."
Nonetheless, Eli says he feels more a part of the queer community in Townsville, a process he partially attributes to getting older.
"I've grown and evolved and become more mature and explorative of who I am."
Eli with Kween Kong (left) and Miss Matoya (right) at the afterparty of 'Queer Candy' Credit: Supplied: Eli Blackman
'You can be deadly, Blak and queer'
While the visibility of the queer community there was more prevalent, the same could not be said for the Blak community, an absence that Eli has found mirrored in Townsville.
"There wasn’t heaps of visible spaces for mob [on the Sunshine Coast].
"Far North Queensland is more conservative, you know, they'll look at you once and be like, 'Oh, you're Black. Oh, you're gay.'
"It's two strikes against your name."
Eli says that he sees more of a divide and alienation along racial lines, rather than sexuality.
"It's more First Nations and people of colour versus Anglo Saxon Australians. They're the ones that are really fighting, we kind of get shifted to the side of it."
Looking forward and reflecting on what the Blak queer youth journey may look like today, Eli says he’s hopeful.
He believes it will be easier for them, largely due to social media providing visibility to Blak identities, queer identities, and the intersection of the two.
‘We're in the space now where social media is a big thing and the 'woke culture' has very much given younger, queer people more space and trajectory to be celebrated growing up.
I feel like this is such a cliche, but it gets better. I would say to stand proud of your Blackness and queerness that can be cohesive together like same time.
"You can be deadly, Blak and queer. It's not just one or the other."
